Transferring the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14th

The United States plans to transfer their embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May, a US official told Reuters on Friday.

The transfer of the embassy “will coincide with the 70th anniversary of the creation of Israel,” AFP told another US official, without further details on the date.

The embassy will initially be located in the district of Arnona, in a group of buildings that houses the American consular operations at al-Quds, said the second official.

At first, only the ambassador and a small team will move from Tel Aviv, he said.

A “provocation” according to the Palestinians

The Palestinian leadership called the US decision to transfer the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to al-Quds in May, saying the Trump administration had become an obstacle to peace.

It is “a provocation for the Arabs, Muslims and Christians. By such a decision, the Trump administration ends up isolating itself completely and becomes part of the problem and no longer the solution, ” Saeb Erekat, the number two official of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told AFP.

The spokesman of the Islamic Resistance movement of Palestine Hamas, Abdellatif al-Qanoue, said in a press release that: “The transfer of the American Embassy will grant no legitimacy to the Zionist regime, and will not change the truth about al-Quds.”

He added that this decision was considered a flagrant violation of international law and is contrary to all international standards.

According to this Palestinian official, this measure, adopted by the Trump administration, provoked the fury of the Arab world, provoked a general reprobation, and gave a feeling of treason to the Arab and Muslim nations.

Another Hamas spokesman, Hazem Qasem, focused on the subject to say: “continued protests in the West Bank and Gaza Strip against official recognition by the United States of al-Quds as the capital of Israel means that the Palestinian nation will never accept such decisions. American decisions will never change the historical truth for our nation and al-Quds will remain the eternal capital of Palestine. ”

A White House official announced on Friday (February 23rd) that the US embassy will move from Tel Aviv on May 14 to al-Quds.

May 14 coincides exactly with the 70th anniversary of the formation of the Israeli regime and the beginning of the Palestinian exodus of 1948 or Nakba.